Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 396: Chapter 247: Oh No, I Fell For It Again

After a satisfying meal, there wasn’t much to clean up. Erica helped wash the dishes, then glanced at the time. Before she knew it, it was already three-thirty in the morning.

"Oh, I’m suddenly so sleepy. I’m too lazy to walk, and I didn’t even bring my Hat Lamp. I guess I’ll just have to trouble you and stay the night."

"?"

Lin Chen had just opened his mouth to speak when she covered it with her hand.

"You’re a grown man, you can’t be that stingy, can you? Are you really going to make a beautiful young woman like me walk alone through the forest in the middle of the night?"

"Come on, come on, let’s go inside and get some sleep. It’s late~"

He wanted to say something else, but once Erica pushed him inside, the darkness seemed to make him instantly drowsy. Combined with his full stomach, which drew blood away from his brain, waves of sleepiness washed over him.

He hadn’t gotten much sleep in the first place, and after spending over an hour in the sea and everything that followed, he was already beyond exhausted.

Honestly, the thought of forcing himself to stay awake to walk Erica home was too much. He couldn’t be bothered to move.

"You can stay for one night, but I only have one bed, and it’s not big enough for two. You can go curl up in that pile of bamboo over there."

"Wow, you’re so mean!"

Erica muttered under her breath but didn’t argue further. She dutifully went over to the pile of bamboo and worked at it for a moment, managing to fashion a relatively flat and stable surface to lie on.

Seeing that she wasn’t going to cause any more trouble, Lin Chen finally gave in to his exhaustion. He lay down, and it wasn’t long before his breathing grew slow and steady.

"Lin?"

Erica’s eyes snapped open. She called out his name softly, testing the waters.

’Asleep?’

’For real? That fast?’

When he didn’t respond, her eyes darted back and forth. A moment later, she sat up and spoke a little louder.

"That fish soup made me so hot... I’m going to have to take my clothes off, or I’ll never get to sleep~"

SNORE...

His breathing was steady. Still no reaction.

’Looks like he’s really out cold. Just like my dad—asleep the second his head hits the pillow. I’m so jealous of people who can sleep like that.’

She rose from the pile of bamboo as quietly as possible, creeping toward the bed in the darkness.

She reached out, patting the bed until she felt a small gap near the wall.

’See? There’s room. You stingy jerk. He said I couldn’t, but I’m going to anyway. It’s so cold on the floor~’

...

"Nngh... hurts, hurts, hurts."

In the middle of his sleep, Lin Chen felt a pins-and-needles sensation in his arm and leg, so intense it felt like they were about to snap. The slightest movement sent a jolt of agonizing pain through him.

He wanted to go back to sleep, but the pain forced his eyes open a crack. He figured he’d sit up, stretch his stiff limbs, and then try to sleep again.

Just then, he felt two puffs of warm air on his neck.

"?"

He froze for a second, his mind instantly snapping to full alert. His heavy eyelids flew open.

He looked down.

Sure enough, that shameless, brazen Erica had snuck into his bed at some point during the night!

From this angle, he could clearly see her long, curled lashes, the high bridge of her nose—a common European feature—her fair, rosy skin, and her moist, cherry-pink lips, which were slightly parted as she breathed.

She was a messy sleeper, squeezed on her side into the small space by the wall, with most of her body pressed against him.

Worst of all was his left arm. He wasn’t sure if she had moved it on purpose, but it was now pinned beneath her head while she slept soundly, nestled comfortably against his chest.

Wait, his arm?

As if remembering something, Lin Chen’s head snapped up. He saw his completely numb left arm wrapped behind her head, his elbow braced against the wall, with his forearm draped across her body.

From this angle, it looked exactly as if he were holding her in his sleep.

The position was far too intimate. He wasn’t comfortable with this level of physical contact with a platonic female friend. He immediately reached out with his right hand and tapped her face a few times.

"Hey, Miss Shameless, would you mind waking up!"

Erica frowned in annoyance, subconsciously swatting his hand away. She nuzzled her head deeper into the warmth of his chest, showing absolutely no sign of waking up.

’Damn it!’

Lin Chen mentally rolled his eyes.

In his entire life, he had never met a woman so shameless and forward.

’What’s a rich, beautiful girl like her doing, throwing herself into the arms of a man she barely knows?’

’Does she really think I’m a saint? That I won’t take advantage of this?’

’He’d been single for a long time, and his... urges... were especially strong. Back home, he could always rely on a little help from his favorite "teachers" online. But out here in the wild, his only outlets were hard labor and hunting to burn off excess energy.’

’But now life was getting easier. Things weren’t so tough. He didn’t have to worry about food or drink, and the work wasn’t as exhausting as it used to be.’

’To be in this situation, with a beautiful, wealthy woman throwing herself at him... as a hot-blooded man in his early twenties, especially first thing in the morning... it would be abnormal *not* to have a few ideas.’

He glanced down again, and for some reason, his eyes were immediately drawn to the deep, white expanse of her cleavage visible at the neckline of her shirt.

Perhaps it was the dim light in the hut, but her skin seemed exceptionally pale and smooth.

GULP...

Her full curves were prominent beneath her tight tank top. Her long, slender legs were draped over his, and he realized she wasn’t even wearing pants. Even through the fabric of his own trousers, he could feel the unique softness of a woman’s skin.

Almost instantly, his breathing grew heavy. His free right hand rose, as if of its own accord, moving toward her.

’You’re the one who came to me. You’ve been teasing me for fun time and time again. It’s only fair that I collect a little interest, right?’

Just as he was about to give in to temptation, the last shred of his conscience—the conscience of a man from Great Xia—suddenly kicked in.

In an instant, the haze cleared from his eyes.

’No, I can’t. She’s only doing this because she trusts me. As one of the Da Xia People, I have to uphold my country’s image. As her idol, I can’t take advantage of a fan. And as a man, I absolutely cannot take advantage of someone in a vulnerable position.’

He squeezed his eyes shut and pictured a ninety-year-old woman in a swimsuit. The lustful thoughts stirring deep inside him vanished without a trace.

’She’s just cold on the floor and wanted some warmth, right? Fine. It’s no big deal.’

’I’ll just go back to sleep!’

「Over an hour later.」

When the urge to urinate finally woke him, he realized Erica was already awake. Judging by the sounds, she was washing up.

He quickly sat up and walked out of the hut, trying to act as if nothing had happened.

"You’re awake?"

Hearing his footsteps, Erica turned with a beaming smile and waved.

Lin Chen nodded, about to say hello, when he saw her casually soaking in the bamboo tub, only her bare shoulders and deep cleavage exposed to the air.

Through the distorted surface of the water, he could faintly make out a large white shape submerged beneath.

The corner of his mouth twitched. He quickly looked down and scurried along the wall into the forest behind the hut to take care of business.

Watching his hasty retreat, the smile on Erica’s lips widened, filled with the satisfaction of a successful prank.

Lin Chen deliberately stayed in the forest for half an hour. He returned with some wood sorrel and ferns he’d gathered, along with a nearly ripe pineapple he’d picked from the patch out back.

When he cautiously peeked around and returned to the bamboo hut, Erica was already dressed in camouflage pants and a tight white tank top. She had also started a fire.

"Took you long enough. Constipated?"

"Bullshit."

Lin Chen grumpily set down the pineapple and tossed the wood sorrel into a nearby bamboo container.

He pointed a finger at her prominent nose. "Given your bad behavior, you are not allowed to crash here again. I don’t care how late it is, you’re going home. If you don’t want to walk, you can sleep in the forest. I don’t care if you get eaten alive by mosquitoes or carried off by a Jaguar!"

"So you’re saying if I’m on my best behavior, I can stay over again?"

Erica’s eyes lit up, and she shot up from the ground.

"No! Do you not understand English? What I mean is... why are you standing so close?"

Lin Chen stared at Erica, who was now just inches away. A sudden, ominous feeling washed over him. He was about to step back, but she suddenly grabbed both of his hands and lifted them to her chest.

"Didn’t you want a feel? Go ahead~"